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C&O Canal Volunteers Target Garlic Mustard Weed

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A volunteer group says it's launching an attack on a non-native plant that threatens to crowd out native flowering plants in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

The target is garlic mustard, an aggressive weed that is believed to have arrived with European immigrants in the 1800s.

The C&O Canal Association says it's seeking volunteers to be trained in removing garlic mustard from areas including Swain's Lock, Carderock, Edwards Ferry, Antietam Creek and Brunswick.

The group says garlic mustard proliferates rapidly and has no natural enemies.

The association says the best time for pulling the plants is in early spring before it goes to seed.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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